Joan of Bark

Any book that pisses off the Roman Catholic clergy and sells better than the Bible has got to have some redeeming value.

blues runner

I've read the book of course. Great idea, highly entertaining, could've had a better writing style. But, as I read I relished in the anticipation that this was another work of art that was bound to upset so many people that take themselves much too seriously. Really now, if all the folks (the church) who are making scathing commentary in response to this novel are so upset, what does that say about them as people? Pretty intolerant, self-absorbed, possibly infantile. Also, if they're as steadfast in their belief and as certain as they seem to be about their ability to convert others to their cause, why the fuss? You'd think they could maturely laugh and shrug, dismissing it as harmless simply because they know it's fiction, as they claim!

I witnessed a conversation between two X-tians at the airport and one said to the other (the older one) that he had just read a novel that claimed Jesus had sex with Mary Magdelene. The older guy turned crimson-faced, and angrily said "Don't you ever believe trash like that, Martin! There's no limit to what deplorable things the modern world's sinners will do!" :rolling:

cognac

Well, maybe, but not by me.

Thank you for clarifying. AFAIK, everything I've stated is fact.

SPOILER ALERT: IIRC, the character speaking all this happens to be a shifty, self-serving SOB, although that's not evident until later in the book. I wouldn't doubt it if he's been caught lying about a few other things too.

Again, it's irrelevant. And again, for fear of becoming a broken record: Fiction is not non-fiction. It makes no claim to be. That's why they have different sections in the bookstore, so people won't get confused. It's why they print it on the cover: "A NOVEL." I clearly remember buying DVC off the "new fiction" rack a couple of years ago.

Tybalt

I read it with a girl I liked, I thought the story was alright and enjoyed the book, but it might of just been myself enjoying the discussion of the book, I'm not too sure.

Californian

:rolling: Was it the girl, the book or discussing the book?

Only 2 of my family and no friends know I read the book, since I am totally surrounded by the righteous. I also loved Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. To me it wasn't an either or, because they each covered different aspects. I laughed through both books.

NOGO

And again. The book is fiction but certain elements in it are expected to be real. I wont go through the list again.

NOGO

How do you know that the Ark of the covenant is not fiction?
It comes from a book which is full of fiction.

Californian

That's what's so funny about all the Christian/Catholic bellyaching. Anyone believing Jesus's parentage and his mommy's perpetual virginity, just for starters, has no business criticizing the possibility that Jesus married.

The Da Vinci Code or the NT? Which is the more wayout fiction?

goozlefotz

You are confusing the heck out of me. If fiction should not be a vehicle for spreading untruths, how can anyone write fiction?

I was not Constantine who made Jesus into a God, it was Paul. The original disciples did not think of Jesus as a God. Then, in order to codify this change in belief, the Gospel of John was written in Constantine's time and slipped into the Bible.

NOGO

Fiction is there to explore the unknown not to distort what is known.

You second paragraph is IMHO simply all wrong.
Jesus' divinity was there from the very start.
The Gospel of John does not make the man into a God.